Frailty (Again, Sorry)!

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

Although we have posted many blog articles on the issue of Frailty, this study caught my eye because frailty is becoming more and more a concern for our residents! How many of your residents in the past year required emergency general surgery? What exactly is emergency general surgery? According to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics …

Senior Woman

Depression – Tough to Treat

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

Depression challenges many of our residents and sometimes it just doesn’t seem to matter how many times we adjust medications, add medications and discontinue medications; we still struggle to find that happy place for them. However, there is some good news coming from Stanford Medicine where researchers used electroencephalography (EEG) and an algorithm to identify a brain-wave signature in individuals …

Let the Sun Shine!

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

I honestly know very few people today who are not taking a Vitamin D supplement and I began to wonder if it is really necessary when I came across this article published in the Integrative Practitioner. The article discusses the prevalence of lower back pain in post-menopausal women (hmmm, we have a few of those living in our centers right?) …

Depression in Dementia with Lewy Body

Anorexia of Aging

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

As people get older they tend to become more sedentary and their body composition changes, resulting in an increase in body fat and a decrease in lean muscle mass and extracellular fluid. The body responds to the need for less energy by decreasing appetite, a process known as “anorexia of aging”. What often occurs is that the resident becomes malnourished, …

Positive for COVID-19? Are You Sure?

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

A recent study was performed after 2 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were discharged from one hospital in China only to redevelop symptoms later and have a positive test for COVID-19. Researchers decided to collect nasopharyngeal and anal swabs from 58 other patients who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 and discharged before February 27, 2020. All patients were treated in Loudi, …

Dick Van Dyke and Tai Chi

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

We have all seen the infomercials for Tai Chi but recent studies are proving that they may be right! In a recent article published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Tai Chi is identified as being beneficial for at least 4 chronic conditions, Cancer, Osteoarthritis, Heart Failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. In case you don’t know what Tai …

Tips – Nursing Safe Practices

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

In a recent article published in Medscape Nurses, seven tips for nurses on safe patient handling were discussed. With the current pandemic situation, many nurses are performing additional duties outside of their normal day, such as bundling tasks. The goal, of course, is to assist in preventing the spread of infection by limiting the number of “visits” into a resident …

Anticholinergic Drugs and Dementia

Cardiovascular Risk with Rosiglitazone (Avandia)

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

Researchers have known for a long time that medications to manage blood glucose levels can have a negative impact on cardiovascular status. Yale School of Medicine recently conducted a study with more than 130 trials involving over 48,000 adult patients that compared rosiglitazone with any control for at least 24 weeks. Patient Level Data was available for 33 trials which …

Mask Mandates – Unknown Social and Behavioral Consequences?

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

Recommendations to wear non-medical face masks to control the spread of COVID-19 vary widely and have changed over time. At the beginning of the pandemic, some countries advised against wearing masks, partly because the supply of highly protective medical N95 masks was too low. In June 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) changed their recommendations and now recommends that healthy …

Kawasaki-Like Multisystem Inflammatory Disease – Adults?

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

The Pandemic has caused many of us to worry about our seniors and then we are told that children affected by the virus may experience multi-system inflammatory disease secondary to COVID-19. Of course, everyone became alarmed and tightened the “bubble” around their children. In a recent study published in NCBI, there is now concern that adults are also at risk …